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Cubs Lay Lumber on D'backs at Riverview

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 05/09/2019 - 7:38pm

Fernando Kelli collected three singles and a walk, stole a base, scored two runs, and drove-in another, Gioskar Amaya drilled an RBI double and a single, stole a base, and scored three runs, Wladimir Galindo blasted a three-run HR, Marcus Mastrobuoni laced an RBI double, singled and scored, and walked, Abraham Rodriguez doubled and scored and drew a bases-loaded walk to force-in a run, Dalton Hurd singled twice, scored two runs, and knocked-in another, and Rochest Cruz rifled an RBI single and a triple and scored a run, leading the Cubs to a 12-3 drubbing of the Diamondbacks in Cactus League Extended Spring Training game action Thursday morning on Field #5 at the Riverview Baseball Complex on John Arguello Way in Mesa, AZ.

The Cubs bashed-out 16 hits (ten singles, four doubles, a triple, and a HR) and drew five walks to propel the high-octane offense that was on display in the game.

The Cubs played only one Cactus League EXST game today, so the squad that hosted the D'backs consisted of elements of both the Cubs "A" team and the Cubs "B" team.

One thing to keep in mind about Garcia is that because he was a second-contract free-agent (he was previously released by CLE), the Cubs might have him under control for just the 2019 season (TBD).

A second contract player can be signed for one year or (with consent of the player) any number of years up through the player's seventh minor league season. Garcia will have accrued five minor league seasons by the end of the 2019 season, so the Cubs - MIGHT - have him under control through the 2021 season, or it could be only through the 2020 season, or it might be just for the 2019 season (again, TBD).

If the Cubs have Garcia under control beyond this season, he will be Rule 5 Draft eligible post-2019 unless he is added to the MLB 40-man roster by 11/20.

If he is not under control beyond the 2019 season, he will almost certainly (at minimum) be offered a 2020 minor league successor contract (which he does not have to sign), otherwise the only way the Cubs would be able to keep him from becoming a free-agent is by adding to the MLB 40-man roster by 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series.

So the Cubs really needed to move Garcia up to AAA to find out just how good he really is. He had nothing left to prove at AA.

FWIW, Robel Garcia was available in the AAA Phase of last December's MLB Rule 5 Draft, but was not selected. (The Cubs moved him from the AAA Iowa reserve list to the AA Tennessee reserve list on 11/20).

And yet, the DD battery is undefeated. Plus, Caratini is playing pro baseball again so TD’s days are numbered. In the meantime, what better rest could there be for Willy than to skip Yu’s exhausting turns?

yu is so slow to the plate and his stuff doesn't always hit the mark. i just think it's a bad matchup pairing davis/darvish given the 2 skill sets trying to compliment each other.

the wild pitches technically aren't taylor's issue, but a more mobile guy could have gotten in front of at least 1-2 of those depeding on how loose you want to be with assuming another catcher could have gotten in front of those pitches.

Alex Avila (strained quad) said to be close to returning to Diamondbacks which would give them four catchers on the 25. D'backs are looking for a #5 starter and they had to be impresed by what they saw of Tyler Chatwood when he threw against them last month.

Avila is making $4.25M in 2019 and Chatwood gets $12.5M in 2019 and $13M in 2020. It would require some financial offset for 2020, but that could be something that could get done.

Recent comments

A's have decided to not be horrible and to pay their minor leaguers through the end of the season (august)

"“I changed my mind after spending a lot of time talking to our team,” A's owner John Fisher told the Chronicle. “I concluded I’d made a mistake. I’ve listened to our fans and others, and there is no question that this is the right thing to do. We clearly got this decision wrong. These players represent our future and we will immediately begin paying our minor-league players. I take responsibility and I’m making it right.""

I'm in. What more do we need, really. A beer. A game or two. The 162 game season can wait until next year (I hope). Have fun with a micro-mini season. Let the powers fight over the labor agreements. They can finish by next spring, right?

IN BRIEF (Tribune, from their mini-sports section): In a letter, MLB rejects players’ plan for 114 gamesNews servicesMajor League Baseball rejected the players’ proposal for a 114-game schedule in the pandemic-delayed season with no additional salary cuts, telling the union that teams have no reason to think 82 games is possible and now will discuss even fewer.Players made their proposal Sunday, five days after management’s initial economic plan.

I agree. Laura is the real deal. I think she was the major influence that showed Tom R. and Crane Kenney how to show a "human side" and deal realistically and in a non-threatening way, with the local Chicago politicians. Kenney was clearly clueless in his initial attempts regarding the neighborhood, the Rooftop owners, and the Wrigley Field rebuild.